Ledyard voters OK budget, police station

Editor's note: This corrects some figures in an earlier version of this article.

Ledyard — Residents approved both the 2013-14 budget and a proposed $6.75 million police station at the annual referendum Tuesday night.

The $50.1 million budget passed handily, 611 to 171, while the police station split the voters nearly in half, with 413 voting "yes" and 374 voting "no."

Of the town's 9,018 registered voters, about 8.6 percent turned out to vote for the budget, with just a handful more voting on the police station. Turnout was higher than last year, when 6.2 percent of registered voters at the time cast ballots.

The general government budget for 2013-14 stands at $20,442,567 — a 4.2 percent increase — and the Board of Education budget is set at $29.7 million, an increase of about 1 percent. The overall budget represents a 2 percent increase.

The projected tax increase of about three-tenths of a mill, which will bring the tax rate up to 28.22 mills, represents the town's first increase in four years, though that could change depending on state aid to the town.

Rodolico said he took the narrow passage of the police station as a "warning" that taxpayers will scrutinize how the town spends its money as it moves forward on the project.